STUNTS GONE WRONG
Performing movie stunts is one of the most dangerous professions in the United States, with a fatality rate of 2.5 per 1,000 injured. A lot of time and careful preparation go into executing a stunt, and nearly all go as planned. Here are a few that resulted in fatalities.
xXx (2002)
Stuntman: Harry O’Connor
Story: O’Connor was a former Navy SEAL who became a well-known California stuntman. While doubling for star Vin Diesel in a chase scene for the extreme-sports action film, O’Connor was paragliding on the Vltava River in Prague, Czech Republic. Pulled along by a speedboat, he was supposed to slide down the long line and pass under a bridge, missing it by inches. O’Connor, 45, had successfully performed the stunt once already, but they decided to do one more take. Something went wrong, and he crashed into the bridge, breaking his neck. He died on the spot. “Stuntmen know they are in danger,” said director Rob Cohen. “They make their living through danger. Most of the time, it’s all right. Sometimes, unfortunately, it isn’t.”
DEADPOOL 2 (2018)
Stuntwoman: Joi “SJ” Harris
Story: Harris was an experienced motorcycle rider who was working on her first film as a stuntwoman when tragedy struck. On the Vancouver set of Deadpool 2, Harris was doubling for Zazie Beetz for a scene in which her character, Domino, is riding her motorbike down the street. She was supposed to go only 10 miles per hour, but for some unknown reason, Harris sped through the stop mark and accelerated to 50 mph. She hit a curb and was thrown through the plate-glass window of a nearby building. Because Domino wasn’t wearing a helmet in the scene, neither was Harris. She died at the scene.
TOP GUN (1986)
Stuntman: Art Scholl
Story: A big reason this movie about elite U.S. Navy fighter pilots was such a hit (other than Tom Cruise) was for its impressive array of aerial stunts. With over 30 years of stunt pilot experience, Art Scholl was among the best in the business. But something went wrong while he was performing what’s called a flat spin. That’s when the plane seems to be spinning out of control; it takes a skilled pilot to regain control. “I’ve got a problem here,” said Scholl, on his radio. “I have a real problem.” Those were his last recorded words before the aircraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. The cause of the accident was never determined, and neither Scholl’s body nor the plane were ever recovered.
Monkeys floss.
Stuntman: Paolo Rigoni
Story: The 12th entry in the James Bond franchise features one of the most thrilling chase scenes in movie history. A motorcycle rider chases Bond, who is skiing down a bobsled track right in the middle of a race. On the last take, a bobsled overturned and one of the riders—23-year-old Rigoni—was trapped beneath it. He didn’t survive. Surprisingly, although several other stunt performers have suffered serious injuries, this is the only fatality in 26 Bond films.
VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN (1995)
Stuntwoman: Sonja Davis
Story: Davis was doubling for Angela Bassett in this Wes Craven/Eddie Murphy horror flop. In what should have been a routine stunt, Davis, hanging from a building, was going to fall 42 feet onto a large airbag. Her family was visiting the set that day, and they all watched. “Are you sure?” they heard her ask, presumably to the director. Those were her last words. Davis fell onto the airbag as planned, but it had too much air in it, causing her to bounce off into another building headfirst, which caused massive head trauma that led to her death days later. Davis’s mother, Wanda Sapp, sued Paramount for $10 million for failing to provide the proper safety equipment.
COMES A HORSEMAN (1978)
Stuntman: Jim Sheppard
Story: This Western drama is notable for having a stuntman-turned-actor, Richard Farnsworth, receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. It’s also notable for the tragedy that occurred on location in Colorado. Jim Sheppard was doubling for Jason Robards’s character, who gets dragged by a horse to his death. The horse was supposed to run straight through the middle of a wide gate, but it veered to the side… and Sheppard’s head hit a fence post. He was airlifted to a hospital in Cañon City, where he later died from his injuries. Filming on the movie was completed the next day.
THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2012)
Stuntman: Kun Liu
Story: This trilogy features 1980s action stars attempting to relive their glory years. The second unit (without any of the main actors present) was shooting a scene in Bulgaria. Stuntmen Kun Liu and Nuo Sun were both on an inflatable boat when an explosion killed Kun, who was only 26. Nuo was critically injured but survived. After the accident, a Bulgarian newspaper reported that the two stuntmen were the doubles for stars Sylvester Stallone and Jet Li, but that turned out to be false. Kun’s family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming the filmmakers “recklessly organized” the stunt.
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